Rebound
by 3VAD127
Summary: Marty disappears and Alex is terrified. Meanwhile, the foosa leader needs reinforcements for his army and uses the bewildered Alex as a main weapon. Will Alex bounce back in time to save his friends from himself? Sorry guys, this story is DISCONTINUED.


Disclaimer: I own nothing. All the chars belong to Dreamworks Animation SKG.

A/N: This is what I like to call a "freeform," so if it kinda stinks, you'll know why. Enjoy, anyway!

Thanks to Casto Starlight for your encouragement in writing another fic. Danka gracias and all that. :)

**Chapter 1**

It was a beautiful evening, the sun reflecting off the calm waters of the Indian Ocean. Alex breathed in the clean, fresh air of his new home, Madagascar. His golden mane waved back and forth in the sea breeze. At first, the lion had been reluctant to accept this island as his home, but after a few weeks of intense denial and raw sushi for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, he finally accepted his predicament as accidental and lived with the results. As he lay in the sand, massive forepaws supporting his head, he daydreamed about New York. He was born and raised there; nothing could change that. But after realizing that there was no way to go back, he finally let the hopes go and left the rest of New York to find itself in his daydreams.

And right now, that's what he found himself doing: daydreaming. Alex's eyes followed the clouds, his mind going through every conceivable memory of his hometown he could think of. From birth to unexpected departure, he reminisced about it all. Ah, those were the days...

"Hey, Al!" Marty's striped face found itself interrupting Alex's memories. The lion yelled.

"Gah! Marty! Don't scare me like that! What do you want to do, give me a heart attack?"

The zebra grinned sheepishly. "Sorry, man, but I saw you lyin' here on the beach, and I decided to come join you."

"Where's Gloria and Melman?"

Marty laid himself beside his friend. "They're with King Julian at another one of his wild parties. Melman said he needed a good neck massage, and Gloria couldn't resist the food."

Alex chuckled. "So, why'd you come to the beach?"

"Well, I noticed you weren't at the party, so I decided to come looking for you. Who knows what kinda stuff you could do. Remember, the foosa are still on the other side of the island, and those psychotic penguins have run off to Heaven knows where," Marty replied.

Alex rolled over onto his side, propping his head on his hand. "So you didn't think I could take care of myself?"

Marty looked uncomfortable. "No... it's just... I don't like Julian's parties. I made up that excuse to come looking for you so I could get away from all of that noise."

Alex was surprised. "I thought you liked the parties."

"When we first came here, yeah. But after about the third week of nonstop rhythmic music, I got pretty sick of it."

Alex smiled knowingly. "So now the truth comes out."

Marty nodded, then sighed. "I remember when we first met."

"Yeah. Those were the days, huh?" Alex sighed heavily.

The multi-colored zebra made a face, then said in a high, cracked voice, "Yes, I remember when we first met. Nine years ago, it was. Back in our day, we didn't have zookeepers to feed us. We had to go to the back room and get it ourselves! And we had to walk three miles just to get there, we did! Yessir, you young 'uns have it easy. Why, if I had my cane, I'd give you a whoppin' right now!"

Alex laughed. "Hey, that's a pretty good imitation."

Marty sighed. "Hey, Al?" he asked.

"Hm?"

"Thanks for being such a good friend. I can't imagine how hard it was for you to accept Madagascar as your home. I know it was hard for me to leave New York; it must've been super tough on you, pal."

"Back at ya, Marty," Alex said. "The friend thing, I mean." There was a long pause between them. Alex rolled onto his back once more and gazed at the millions of stars visible in the velvety sky. "That's one good thing about Madagascar, Marty. New York never could've managed this many helicopters." He chuckled softly.

The two friends lay there, gazing up at the night sky, neither caring about the other's contrast to them. They quietly enjoyed the other's company, not noticing a quartet of stout figures sneaking around the outskirts of the jungle brush.

* * *

Skipper held a pair of binoculars to his eyes. He studied the two friends, Alex and Marty. "Captain's log... Private! Are you paying attention?"

Private, the most inexperienced of the four, nodded and pulled out a notebook and red crayon.

"Good. Captain's log: monochromatic friend and kitty getting along fine today. Keep an eye on the cat, though. We don't want a replay of last month's episode. It is now our official duty to make sure our friend here doesn't get himself into any trouble. You got all that, Private?"

"Roger, Skipper. Captain's log: October 3rd, 2005, 1900 hours."

Skipper smiled. "Excellent, Private. You're definitely getting better at this."

Private saluted. "Thank you, sir."

* * *

Julian XIII, self-proclaimed king of the lemurs, danced to the rock beat of the music. His party was going excellently. The hippo and the giraffe were having a heck of a time doing what they did best. And he was also having a great time doing what _he_ did best: dance. Besides doing nothing and being incompetent, Julian was great at dancing. Why else would he have organized all of those parties? Even the gecko on his crown could really dance! Yes, it seemed as though everything was going perfectly. As he danced and danced, his party got longer and longer, and was soon lasting most of the night. Before he knew it, the first reluctant rays of the sunrise peeked over the horizon.

* * *

Alex yawned and rubbed his eyes. He must've fallen asleep while stargazing with Marty last night. "Hey, Marty, wake up." No response. Alex, eyes still closed, said louder, "Marty! Time to get up!" When no answer greeted his "good morning," he opened his eyes and looked over to the spot next to him: empty. Alex panicked. "Marty? Marty!" he screamed. He jumped up, grabbing handfuls of sand. He ran around the beach, hysterical. "Marty!" _I'd better go find Melman and Gloria._ He ran through the jungle on all fours. He didn't care; it was a faster way. He reached the clearing where the lemurs had held their all night party. Alex's mane was a massive array of mussed up fur. Golden hairs, usually in order, flew in every direction. "Melman! Gloria! Marty's gone! I can't find him! We were stargazing on the beach, and I woke up this morning, and he was gone!" Alex hyperventilated.

Gloria sat up from where she had crashed late last night. "Now, hold on there. I'm sure he's somewhere around here. He probably went on a walk or something."

Alex shook his head. "No, Gloria. I woke up early. Marty never wakes up that early. He's gone! Missing! _Fine_!"

Melman awoke from his position from the party neck massage. "What? Missing? He might get some horrible disease! Or maybe those foosa will get to him!"

Gloria gave him a look. "Now, Alex, I'm sure he's around here somewhere. We'll just have to go look for him."

Alex took a deep breath. "Okay."

Suddenly, Skipper and his men were out in the open. "So, you seem to have lost track of your monochromatic friend. Well, boys, looks like we've got a job to do. You remember the penguin credo, don't you?"

The penguins looked confused, then Kowalski piped up, "What does deep frying in Bisquick have to do with finding the zebra?"

Skipper slapped his forehead. "No! I thought we already went through this last Christmas! 'Never swim alone'! Remember? Alone?"

A chorus of "Oh yeah"'s emitted from the trio.

"Now, come on; let's get out of here," Skipper said. "Now, kitty, we'll find your friend; don't you worry. We've got it all under control."

Alex was skeptical. "Oh boy."

* * *

The penguins had been searching for hours. Although he didn't voice it, Skipper was getting quite discouraged. They hadn't found a single trace of Marty. Not even Kowalski could pick anything up. He was just about to give up when he saw something that surprised him. "Holy butter ball," he muttered. What lay before him was the most fantastic looking waterfall he had ever seen. It had to be at least one hundred feet high. Skipper just hoped that Marty hadn't happened to come across it, especially if he was at the top. "Well, men, I guess this is where we start."

* * *

A/N: I hope you liked the start of my new fic. I don't know if I'll be able to continue, due to my other in-progress story and all of my school assignments. This has been a joy to write so far, and I hope you liked it. 


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